I wrote the first draft of my first novel very
quickly, probably because I didn’t know much about creative writing. If I got stuck, I moved
to a later scene. My writing style was terrible: overwriting, overuse of
adjectives, telling not showing, all the usual mistakes; but I worked out the
story and the backstory by just getting on with it.

Writing the first draft of a second novel is a
different matter. Now I know more about writing and perhaps sometimes have
overthought what I’m doing. Initial excitement about getting a novel published has
been slightly knocked by rejections (only slightly!). And dealing with more
than one book can dilute writing time.

Last night I went to Alison Morton’s book launch for
Successio, book three of the Roma Nova series,
a lovely and inspiring evening-she certainly knows how to launch a book with
style! I enjoyed Sue Cook’s questions about why Alison chose to write about
Romans (her father knew a lot about them), why alternative history; development
of the main characters and how she approaches the writing process.

During her conversation with Sue, Alison mentioned that when she writes a first draft:
she aims to write 500-1000 words per day, doesn’t look back (ie: no editing) and
she doesn’t worry if the same word appears three times in the same sentence. She
said that the key is to get the story out. I agree that when writing first
drafts, this should be the main goal and I’m pinning a GET THE STORY OUT! post-it to the noticeboard above my desk as a reminder. In depth research, editing and development of sub-plots
can come with subsequent drafts.

Alison’s enthusiasm for writing is infectious and I
admire her ability to produce novel after novel-she has another series of
three in the pipeline! Thanks to Alison for inviting me to a wonderful
evening and I wish her the best of luck with Successio.

About Me

Writer and Freelance Social Media Manager with clients in the world of books. Used to work in the City, as manager to a structured derivatives documentation team. Studied French and Italian at university and lived in Siena, Italy. Writer of historical fiction set in 18thc Venice and English country houses. Short story, The Reminiscence Tea highly commended in Feb 2017 issue of Writers' Forum magazine. Associate Member of the Romantic Novelists' Association. Former Social Media Manager for the Historical Novel Society (Aug 2014- 4 Sept 2016) and Publicity Officer for #HNSOxford16. Find out more via my website: www.neetsmarketing.com